Investment in agriculture is essential for sustainable development, in particular for achieving food security, adequate nutrition, decent employment, poverty reduction and environmental protection. In seeking to attract agricultural investment, many governments and local communities have entered into Agricultural Land Investment Contracts (ALIC).
A new report by Small Foundation and Palladium looks at the viability of geomapping as a tool to close the smallholder farmers’ financing gap and improve their livelihoods.
Gender and land rights are closely intertwined with each other. Globally, more than 400 million women work in agriculture. Women comprise 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, yet they account for less than 20 percent of landholders (FAO 2011). These disparities are even higher in some regions. In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, 60 to 70 percent of employed women work in agriculture, with similar rates of land ownership (that is, less than 20 percent).
Target 1.4 of the UN Sustainable Development
This target’s inclusion under SDG Goal 1, on “ending poverty in all its forms,” signifies a new global recognition that secure land tenure should be a central strategy in combating poverty. However, this land agenda has not been prominent in recent SDG reporting processes of governments.
By creating a land commission, the Kazakh authorities managed to bring down the protest rallies in 2016, when, under pressure from citizens, the government was forced to abandon the sale and lease of land to foreigners. The goal of the national patriots was achieved, but the key issue for the citizens remained unresolved – the mechanism and procedures for the return of land to the people of Kazakhstan, sold by the authorities as a result of massive corruption deals and now belonging to oligarchs – “land barons”, has not been created by law.
Over the last two decades, Georgia has made impressive progress in economic growth and reforms. These advancements have also brought about an increase in investments and infrastructure as well as in service sectors, such as tourism, that provide a potential for future growth and welfare. Georgia’s leaders and society have also recognized that the pursuit of growth depends on the sustainability of its development path. Sustainability, in turn, hinges on the protection of the country’s most valuable assets –its nature, people, and cultural heritage.
Smallholder farmers in Georgia face multiple challenges, including low productivity and poor access to the inputs and capacities that they need. Oxfam and its partners are implementing a programme that aims to increase agricultural productivity and support the competitiveness of smallholder farmers. The project works with smallholder farmers to establish and strengthen business-oriented farmer groups. The project also promotes changes to national policy and legislation, in order to create a more conducive environment for their development.
This article uses data from household income surveys to look at income structures amongst households in three mountainous regions of Tajikistan: Gorno-Badakhshan, the Rasht Valley and Eastern Khatlon. The structure of incomes demonstrates the dominant role of subsistence agriculture in all three regions although commercial agriculture is important amongst better-off households in Rasht. Relationships between poverty and household characteristics including access to capital, demographic variables and income-generating activities were examined.
This report;based on primary and secondary data;highlights the link between land and inequality in Uganda. It underscores the need to review policies;laws and regulations governing institutions and practices in the realm of land ownership;access;use and management;and to allocate enough resources to secure land rights. The report looks at factors that have had an impact on poverty and vulnerability;and how policies;laws;regulations and cultural practices can be made more inclusive.
This report focuses on Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO);which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The authors found EPO had violated local people’s right to their land;had broken promises;used violence and threats;are pushing people further into poverty and have not been made to account for it. The report argues that the UK should create a law that will compel British companies to respect human rights and environmental sustainability in countries in which they operate;or be made to account for not doing so. The report includes a response from EPO.
Secure land tenure is key to eradicating poverty;increasing agricultural investment and ensuring food security;and is an essential element of climate action and climate resilience. Yet women have far weaker rights to land than men. These disadvantages exist broadly and with few exceptions globally and are especially limiting to the well-being of women and their families in rural areas;where land is the basis for livelihood;identity;social standing and social security.
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (Tenure Guidelines), we, organizations of small-scale food producers, Indigenous Peoples, workers, urban communities and civil society, underline the critical importance of land, fisheries and forests for achieving social, environmental, gender and intergenerational justice, and demand that States, the FAO and the entire UN system comply with their obligations to realize the right to land.